1813868 (Refugee)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (the Tribunal) considered a dispute between the Department and an applicant concerning the cancellation of the applicant's Subclass 866 (Protection) visa. The Department had cancelled the visa under section 116(1AA) of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) on the basis that the Minister was not satisfied as to the applicant's identity. The applicant sought review of this decision.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the ground for cancellation, namely the Minister's dissatisfaction with the applicant's identity, was made out. This required the Tribunal to consider the evidence presented regarding the applicant's identity, including a previous legal change of name in Australia and the onus on the Department to provide a rationale for its failure to be satisfied. The Tribunal also had to determine if any prescribed circumstances existed in which the visa should not be cancelled.

The Tribunal reasoned that while the applicant had initially arrived in Australia under a different name and had subsequently changed his name legally, the Department had not provided a sufficient rationale for its dissatisfaction with his identity. The Tribunal noted that the applicant had been granted a protection visa in the name of [Mr ZA] and had later notified the Department of his name change to [Mr YB]. Despite the applicant's subsequent application for citizenship and an identity assessment interview, the Department's decision to cancel the visa was based on a general dissatisfaction with identity without specific reasons. The Tribunal concluded that, considering all the circumstances, the ground for cancellation was not sufficiently established.

Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the Department's decision to cancel the applicant's Subclass 866 (Protection) visa and substituted a decision that the visa should not be cancelled.